Several contemporary communication systems allow a party to a communication communicate via a wireless channel (or link). For example, cordless telephones allow a wireless handset to communicate with a telephone network via a base unit or station. The handset, however, typically has a limited transmission range that limits the area in which a user may roam while communicating. Users that roam near the limit of the the handset transmission range typically notice a sharp increase in noise (or "static") on the channel. Unfortunately, due to the duplex nature of telephone type communication, the other party to the conversation will also hear the noise, even if that party employs a conventional wired telephone handset. Ultimately, if the wireless handset roams to a position where communication with the base unit is no longer possible, the other party will receive only noise, which continues to be sent by the base unit until the failure of the communication channel can be detected by the base unit. Accordingly, a need exists for a technique to rapidly determine the integrity of the wireless communication channel.